Killing of civilians in Yemen’s Sarari village war crime: Iran

Iran has strongly condemned the killing of civilians in a village in southwestern Yemen as a “blatant crime against humanity.”

“This crime is indicative of the frustration of Saudi-affiliated forces,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Wednesday.

The Iranian official added that the attacks against the people and their killing in Sarari village in Yemen’s Ta’izz Province amounted to “genocide” and “war crimes.”

Qassemi also warned Saudi Arabia against pursuing warmongering, saying the Riyadh policy to support and nurture Takfiri terrorism "will drag the regime into a quagmire."

A Yemeni local official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Tuesday that Saudi-backed mercenaries burned 50 civilians to death in the Yemeni village.

The Saudi-backed hirelings also destroyed more than 50 houses after looting them in the village, and arrested 38 people, including women and children, according to the official

The Saudi-backed forces also fired several rockets at Sarari homes overnight.

On Wednesday, the United Nations called for a humanitarian truce in Ta'izz Province amid heavy fighting in the embattled region.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen Jamie McGoldrick expressed alarm at increasing bloodshed in the province, particularly Sarari area, and urged all warring sides to agree immediately to a "humanitarian pause" to protect civilians.

He also called for cooperation with humanitarian agencies to help treat and evacuate the wounded and deliver much-needed medicine to the embattled region.

Forces loyal to Yemen’s resigned president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, control most of Ta'izz, the third largest city in the impoverished Arab country. The city has an estimated pre-war population of 300,000 people.

In a letter to the UN, a Houthi official of a ceasefire committee assigned to oversee a fragile truce in Ta'izz said the residents of the village had been subjected to "war crimes" such as house burning and the detention of civilians, including women and children.

"We call on you to swiftly intervene to stop these gangs and limit the massacres they have begun to commit against unarmed civilians," Ahmed al-Musawa said in the letter, Reuters reported.

This comes as Yemen has been under military strikes by Saudi Arabia since late March 2015. The Saudi war has been meant to restore power to Hadi, who seeks to forcefully return to power.

The Riyadh military aggression has left close to 10,000 dead in Yemen.

Iran urges international campaign against terror

The Iranian official also decried a massive bomb attack that killed at least 44 people and injured at least 140 others in the northern Syrian town of Qamishli on Wednesday.

Qassemi described terrorism as a threat to regional and global peace, and urged real international fight against the scourge.

The Takfiri terrorist group of Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack that was initially described as a double bombing.